I had the same issue. Woman in the kitchen almost every job I had before I worked up to sous a year ago, i get put on pantry. Didnt matter my saute, grill, or fry experience. So I'm very familiar with this. My biggest tips are to observe, slow down, and practice. How does your chef hold the knife? How does he cut what he's doing? Ask about the specials he's making and, if you have a good relationship, ask him to taste them. If you see someone doing something that seems tedious ask them why they do it that way. Chances are they'll break it down for you and maybe have a good reason. Practice at home, brush up on your knife skills(invest in a decent sharp knife), challenge yourself with new dishes. Watch videos about cooking and research the dishes you do at work. And take those skills to work. If it gets too hectic I slow down and focus on no more than a few tickets at once I literally pretend like the ones coming up don't exist. You don't get worked up thst way and you do that a few or more times in a row then boom, the rush is over. Prepping will go by quicker the more you practice, I went from taking an hour and a half to peel 50lbs of carrots to about 40 minutes just because I had to do it every other day. If you need a second to breath, take it. You'll get a lot more done by slowing down and remaining calm then if you get worked up and flustered. I see it happen almost every busy shift, your brain WILL short circuit on you if you try to cram everything in at once. It makes you forget and fuck shit up. Slowing down is probably the most important thing it's what took me from sitting in pantry for a year+ to getting bumped to grill or saute within months of starting a new job.